Meet the Kent Animal Center

Kent Animal Shelter places between 600 and 700 animals a year in new homes. Considered Long Island’s “quiet giant,” Kent’s reputation and outreach has no boundaries when it comes to their efforts to protect animals that need help.

“We really try to bring more of a personal touch into our adoptions,” said Pam Green, executive director of the Kent Animal Shelter. “We try to be like match.com in that we really try to match our animals with the best families possible. It’s not institutionalized here; we really do everything based on personal interaction.”

What makes Kent unique from other animal shelters on Long Island?

Most shelters have geographic boundaries, but Kent has expanded to help animals everywhere, even if it means out of state. We’ve rescued animals from Georgia, the Carolinas, Texas and even as far as the island of St. Croix. What separates Kent from other much larger centers is our personal touch to our adoption process. Wherever the animals are, or whatever they need, we reach out to help them – it’s all about our dedication to animal welfare.

To coincide with our 40th anniversary, we’re looking to campaign for a new 12,000-square-foot facility that will exemplify the unique culture of Kent. A lot of facilities today feature atriums, soundproofing, individual runs with separate drainage, special ventilation to control illness and so forth. We want Kent be a place of comfort for the animals, but also a place people will love to come and visit as well.

What types of programs does Kent provide?

In our pet therapy program, volunteers go to a nursing home every week with some animals from the shelter. This allows the elderly to have companionship from pets similar to those they probably had earlier in life. We also have a retirement home that’s exclusively for cats that survive their owners. The cats live in a very homelike facility for the rest of their lives, as provided by their owners’ will. Most important is our spay/neuter program, which benefits over 4,000 animals from various locations annually. We do spay/neuter five days a week, to prevent animals from being killed due to overpopulation.

What type of role do volunteers play at the shelter?

Our volunteers are the key component. Volunteers do everything from walking the dogs, socializing the cats, to running the programs, you name it. Because of our volunteers, we’ve been able to expand our programs to include humane education, community involvement and activities for the children who visit.

With the economy as it is, has the shelter seen an increase in abandoned animals?

Yes, due to the difficult financial times, many more animals are finding themselves in homeless situations. In addition, the general population of pet owners has increased dramatically on Long Island. Unfortunately, with the size of the facility, it’s difficult to treat all the animals that so desperately need our help. It all comes down to the support of the general public and our volunteers. With the continued support of Long Island’s pet lovers, and Kent’s unique personal touch, we want to continue to create the best homes for our pets.